


Bargaining

by killerweasel



Series: Broken Circle [2]
Category: Angel: the Series, Cabin Pressure
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-31
Updated: 2013-05-31
Packaged: 2017-12-13 12:40:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/824418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killerweasel/pseuds/killerweasel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lindsey meets his match.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bargaining

Title: Bargaining  
Fandom: _Angel/Cabin Pressure_  
Characters: Lindsey McDonald, Carolyn Knapp-Shappey  
Word Count: 793  
Rating: PG-13  
A/N: AU after _Angel's Not Fade Away_  
Warnings: n/a  
Summary: Lindsey meets his match.

I’d barely gotten the door open before a piece of paper was shoved in my face.

“What is the meaning of this?”

The paper was thrust at my face again and this time I managed to actually catch a glimpse of the contents before it was snatched back again. I took a step backward to get a better look at my surprise visitor. Angry didn’t even come close to the expression on her face. She was absolutely furious, maybe even livid. The paper she was holding was a letter I’d written the week before.

“You must be Carolyn Knapp-Shappey.” She snorted at me. “Pleasure to meet you, Ma’am.”

“Don’t you try to use that lawyer charm on me, you... you... zombie!” I had to press myself against the wall as she came inside. “I don’t know what stunt you’re pulling, but I am not having any of it. I don’t want your money. Take it back.”

“First of all, I prefer Undead American to zombie. Secondly, I’m not a zombie, not really.”

“I don’t give a flying fig what you are.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Just because my son somehow managed to pull you out of some sort of hell or jail or whatever, does not mean you owe him or me anything. We are perfectly capable of keeping our business afloat without money earned by someone like you.”

“Oh, really?” I crossed my own arms. “See, I had a friend look into your accounts.” She started to say something and I shook my head. “You are this close to having to shut down. He couldn’t even find any records of Martin being paid either.” That earned me a sputter. “I just wanted to help you keep your heads above water. Maybe I went too far with the amount. I can give you a check for something smaller.”

“Let me repeat myself since you seem to have missed this the first time around: I do not want your money.” Carolyn wadded up the check and threw it at me. I was too surprised to do anything and it bounced off my forehead. “If you send me another one, I will burn it.”

I stared at her for a moment. She reminded me very much of my aunt. My aunt used to run a small restaurant on a trucking route. I’d seen her grab massive men by the ear and drag them out of the building when they’d gotten rowdy. People like her were too proud to take handouts. They did things on their own the best that they could. If an opportunity came up that didn’t feel like charity, they tended to take what they could get when they could get it.

“Fine. Then I want to hire your airline.”

“Excuse me?” She eyed me suspiciously.

“I have personal items in storage in Los Angeles that I’d like to be brought to London. I’d like your airline to be the one to do it. I’ll pay you four times what your usual rate is, provided no one opens the containers.” I gave her the smile I’d used to sway many a jury back when I was Wolfram and Hart’s top lawyer.

“Is that how you’re going to play now?” She laughed. “What if I refuse?”

“I’d be willing to go so high as six times, but not more than that.” I arched a brow. “You can turn me down. That’s fine. I’ll just use someone else.”

“Let’s not be too hasty, Mr. McDonald.” Carolyn’s smile put my lawyer one to shame. “First I need your guarantee that your items pose no threat to my aeroplane.”

I scratched my head. “Everything should be completely sealed. So long as no one opens anything, everything should be perfectly safe. If someone opens a seal, it would make what happened when Arthur summoned me seem like nothing. If you want, I could oversee everything and make sure no one touches something they shouldn’t.”

“Agreed. Second, I want the money in cash, up front, in case something goes wrong.” The look she gave me said ‘nothing had better go wrong or you’ll regret it’. “Third, you’ll hire Martin’s ‘man with a van’ services to bring your items here from the airport.”

I’d actually been planning on doing that. “You have a deal. Let me know what you have available schedule-wise and I’ll bring the payment over along with a deposit.”

Carolyn held out her hand and we shook on it. “I’ll be in touch, Mr. McDonald.”

It had been ages since I’d met my match and I knew when I’d been bested. I watched her walk out to her car with an amused smile on my face. This was going to be an interesting arrangement.


End file.
